


Stranded

by sinistercinnamon



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Awesome Jane Foster, BAMF Jane Foster, F/M, Fake Marriage, Fic Exchange, Jane Foster Loves Science, Lokane Gift Exchange 2017, Past Jane Foster/Thor, Sakaar (Marvel), Sharing a Bed, Stranded, Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 22:29:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13420953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinistercinnamon/pseuds/sinistercinnamon
Summary: Jane Foster was having a perfectly normal day, until she got pulled back into the Asgardian family drama she thought she'd gotten clear of & found herself stranded on an alien planet with her ex's brother.All in all, she can't complain.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rosweldrmr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosweldrmr/gifts).



> The prompts I was given were: "Jane and Loki interact in Ragnarok. Jane is the new Thor and she and Loki have to work together. Or anything with arranged marriage/political marriage or they’re stranded. “No thank you’s” include anything fluffy or domestic."
> 
> I have no chill so I did ALL THE PROMPTS. Well, sort of. Jane is around for Ragnarok, plus I also threw in some fake marriage (not quite the same but eh) with them sort of being stranded on Sakaar, & a dash of Jane getting powers. Hope this works for you. :)

The women did not even glance at Loki. As always, he was in his brother’s shadow. 

It was probably just as well though – he hadn’t bothered to disguise his appearance (beyond dressing in mortal garb), trusting in the short memories of mortals and the fact that the best hiding place was often in plain sight, as people rarely troubled to pay attention to things that acted like they belonged there. 

Thor had caught their attention because even when trying to be hidden, he seemed to give out some sort of signal to all and sundry. Trying to hide him was like trying to extinguish the light of the sun. He settled for a roll of his eyes and a sneer behind the group’s backs. Thor lapped up the attention of course. 

Portrait acquired, the group moved away. As they did however, the one who seemed to be their leader turned back. “I’m sorry Jane dumped you,” she said, making a sympathetic face before turning and following her friends. 

Hmm, so the mortal had spurned Thor? Well, well, well. Part of Loki was surprised – the whole of womenkind seemed even more blind to his brother’s faults than Odin ever was. But it made sense to be this one – it was obvious she was far too intelligent for him, if what he’d heard of her was true the work that Selvig had been doing with the Tesseract was based on her theories, and it had been evident from meeting her that she was so much smarter than Thor that he wondered what they must find to talk about. And while he had seen such matches work, they seemed to have nothing in common to bridge the gap, which was needed. 

Turning back to his brother to offer some half-hearted sympathy, he saw him standing there looking dumbfounded. “She didn’t dump me!” 

“They seemed pretty sure.” Loki nodded in the direction the women had gone. 

“Do you not think that I would know?” Loki knew better than to answer that one honestly. “She said nothing to me when last we spoke!” 

Loki sighed internally. He was really in no mood to dissect Thor’s romantic blunderings. In any other circumstance that might have been a fun way to mock him, but right now he was more distracted by the mystery of what fate had befallen his fa- Odin. Not that he was concerned for the old man. But he’d placed him here to know where he was and keep him out of the way, and not knowing where he was now or whether he’d gone there of his own accord or been abducted by someone who planned to use him against Asgard was concerning. 

“Take me to her.” 

For a moment Loki thought he’d misheard. “What?” 

“You heard what I said. I wish to talk with her and dispense with the rumours. Take me to her.” 

“Is now really the time?” 

“Now!” 

Loki was about to retort, when his feet were suddenly engulfed in sparks. 

“What are you doing?” 

“This isn’t me.” Loki had time to feel a flash of worry at the fact that someone seemed to be targeting him, but not Thor, and what that might mean, when the ground suddenly fell away beneath his feet. 

He braced himself for an unknown landing, but it never came. He just fell. And fell. And fell some more. At first he felt only small concern that, for such a distance, the end of it would be painful. But soon panic set in. He could see nothing around him. There was a sense of something rushing by, and occasional flashes of light, but he could see nothing clearly. He has the sense that he was in a small space, but there were no walls, no ceiling, no floor. He was falling falling falling falling forever – though somehow he retained a sense that it had been mere minutes – but where was it to end? What would find him in the darkness? He hoped desperately for ground. However hard a landing might be, it would be far preferable to any alternative… 

As he fell yet further, fear turned into anger. No longer would he run and hide and cower. He vowed that wherever he ended up, he would make them regret toying with him. 

Suddenly the world seemed to open up and the next thing he knew he had slammed into a hard floor. He was aware of people behind him, and he knew one of them was his brother. 

“I have been falling for thirty minutes!” he roared, picking himself up off the ground. 

“You can handle him from here.” He heard an unfamiliar voice say, and his rage flared. This was insult on top of injury. 

“Handle me?” he snarled, turning and advancing upon the man, conjuring daggers as he went. There were two portals beyond him, but he paid those no heed. “You think yourself some sort of sorcerer?” 

The man waved his hands, one of the portals whirled forward, and once again he found himself consumed by a circle of sparks. 

He stumbled forward, but this time there was no endless abyss, but instead a mortal dwelling, plainly furnished but chaotically filled, and Thor was with him. He banished his knives and looked around, wondering where on Midgard they’d been sent and why. 

Suddenly there was a shriek, and he turned to see Jane Foster standing in a doorway staring at them. She opened and closed her mouth for a moment before seeming to find her voice. 

“You- I thought you were dead!” 

Loki, despite himself, found himself shuffling his feet, chastised. It must have been distressing for her to watch his ‘death’, and shocking for her to find him still alive, and in her home no less. “Ah, I am afraid that-” 

“Not you. I was talking to your brother.” 

Thor was blinking in confusion. “But I wasn’t dead.” 

“Oh really?” He voice was sharper and colder than any ice blade wielded by a frost giant. “Then I’d love to hear your excuse for disappearing for months with no word. Because that’s the only one I can think of that covers it.” 

Oh, he had been so wrong. This was absolutely the time to deal with his brother’s romantic blunderings. Odin could wait. He sat down in a nearby armchair and settled in to watch the best show he’d seen since his statue was unveiled. No, actually this might be better than his statue. He picked up a small drinking vessel full of a hot brown liquid on a table next to him and sipped it. It was bitter, but not unpleasant. 

“I was busy.” 

“And I was worried! I know you have a really important job to do, and it means I’m never going to be a priority, and I’m OK with that. But you can’t just disappear for months with no word! Not even to say you were going! I had to find out from Pepper that you’d gone off on some quest or other.” 

Thor actually looked sheepish here. “I should have let you know I was going.” 

“Oh, you think?” 

“I just didn’t think I’d be gone that long. I’d intended to simply follow some whispers and investigate some rumours, but I found myself pulled in unexpected directions, and I forgot all else.” 

“Even when you were still on Earth I had to rely on news reports to find out if you were OK. You kept refusing to get a phone.” Waving her arms angrily, she continued, “And don’t think I’ve forgotten that you didn’t so much as leave me a note when you were here for the Chitauri Invasion! Or afterwards! You swooped in fast when-” 

Her eyes narrowed, as if something had occurred to her for the first time. “How did you know about what happened at that warehouse anyway?” 

Thor shifted awkwardly on the spot. 

“Thor. Were you spying on me?” 

“Well, yes, I had Heimdall checking on you, and whenever I had a moment I would visit him to ask how you were.” 

“Visit him?! Why not me? I thought you said you were fighting constant battles, but you clearly had some time.” 

“I did have some time, I admit, but I could not visit you on Midgard because my father would never have allowed me to use the Bifrost to do so.” Thor smiled reassuringly, having given an account that made him look better. Loki felt that a contribution from him was warranted. 

“The Allfather need never have known you were going to Midgard. You could have just told him you had used the Bifrost to check on troops stationed in another realm.” 

Thor glared at him. “Thank you, brother.” 

“My pleasure. I’m always happy to help.” He toasted his brother with his cup. 

“Don’t smash your cup on the floor!” Jane admonished. 

He frowned, offended. “What kind of ill-bred oaf do you think I- ah.” He rolled his eyes. “Have no fear, Dr Foster, I shall leave your crockery unharmed.” 

She turned back to Thor, though she seemed to be addressing both of them when she said, “What are you even doing here, anyway?” 

“We came here on an important mission.” Loki, unlike Thor, did not miss how her eyes narrowed at the word ‘important’, with its implication that she was unimportant, and shook his head at his brother’s ineptness. All his attempts to fix his situation were only making it worse. “And a stranger expressed sympathy for your dumping of me. How come strangers know, but not me?” 

“How was I supposed to tell you? And I had to tell everyone! Because everyone kept asking! I’m a Nobel Prize winning scientist! I’ve given lectures all over the world, appeared in documentaries, been on magazine covers. I got a call yesterday offering me a job presenting a Netflix series about space. But still most of the interview questions and social media messages I was getting were about you. Do you know how embarrassing it is when everyone is asking about you, and I don’t know where you are or what you’re doing. And then there’s government goons keeping on asking me where you are, as if I’m just pretending you’ve disappeared and if they ask enough times I’ll slip up and admit you’re hiding out in my closet.” 

Thor, finally seeing some sense, looked down at his feet and muttered an apology. 

“Back to this important mission. Is the world in danger? Because why are you even wasting time here is it is?” 

Loki spoke up. “We seem to have… misplaced the Allfather.” 

“How can you misplace someone?” 

“What Loki means is, after faking his death, he snuck back to Asgard, overpowered our father, and took over the throne disguised as him. He then ensorcelled him and hid him in a building that has since been demolished.” 

Loki rolled his eyes again. “The place was for the express purpose of caring for elderly relatives. He was fine. And I offered you the throne; you declined. I recall you cited spending more time with Jane here as your reason.” 

“And you’ve just lost him?” 

“Yes, but a fellow named Strange has agreed to help us, albeit reluctantly. He has informed me that our father is currently in Norway, and will send us to him after I am done here.” 

“Oh you are definitely done here. Wait, how is he going to send you to him? How did you even get here?” 

“He conjured portals for us. One of them brought us here.” 

Her eyes lit up and she rifled through a bag nearby, pulling out a notebook. “Portals? How does he generate them? How to they work? What happened to the one that brought you here?” 

“I do not know any of those things. He closed the portal behind us because Loki threatened him.” 

“Is he gonna reopen it, or will you guys have to walk to Norway?” She looked around hopefully as if the portal might reappear right then. 

Loki spoke up. “It is of no matter if he doesn’t. It seems Odin is unharmed and we have some idea where he is, so there is no hurry. And I myself can conjure portals so we have no real need of him.” 

“You can generate portals?” She moved over and perched on the edge of the chair opposite, notebook open and pen in hand as she stared at him. “Was that how we got to Svartalfheim? I missed that bit, but that was you, right?” 

He basked in her interest, enjoying the look on Thor’s face as she completely ignored him in favour of Loki. 

“That was actually one of the existing portals that are scattered throughout the realms. There are few indeed who know the locations of any of them, and none who can say to know so many as I. I can generate portals myself, but Odin had made it so that none could be created within the palace walls, ever since one was opened inside the vault that enabled frost giants to gain access to the palace.” 

He chose to leave out who had created that portal. He quite liked having her attention like this and he wasn’t sure she’d accept his explanation that it’d just been done as a distraction. 

She scribbled notes. “How did you do it? Do you use any kind of power source? How does it remain stable?” 

Before Loki could reply, another circle of sparks swirled into existence and Jane looked up. The sudden shift of her attention was like an eclipse of the sun, and he felt its absence keenly. 

And then, without any hesitation or care, she leaped up, ran over to the portal, and put her hand in it. Then, a second later, slinging the bag over her shoulder, dove in. 

Loki leapt up and dived after her, followed by Thor. 

He found her cornering the Strange man, peppering him with questions about portals. The man himself attempting to explain that he’d intended to send them after Odin first, and that she really should not be here. He marched over and dragged her away, not sure why he hated the man even more than he had previously, and resented him her attention. 

Strange, obviously none too keen on challenging Loki still, waved his arm and the remaining portal swirled and moved to envelop all three of them.


	2. Chapter 2

Jane had to admit that her day had taken some interesting turns. She’d walked into her living room to find Thor and Loki standing in there, seeming to take up the whole space somehow, even though they were wearing normal clothes instead of their usual leather gear (she noticed Loki seemed to have got the hang of dressing himself much better than his brother). She’d been pretty pissed off to start with at Thor swanning back into her life, and it only got worse when he had the sheer nerve to be angry that they weren’t together anymore – as if they’d been really together in the first place! 

Then Loki mentioned they’d arrived in her apartment via portal (she was so annoyed she’d missed that!), which reminded her that he was supposedly able to create portals. She seized on this and peppered him with questions. Her research was at a standstill – she could theorise and extrapolate all she liked based on her experience with the Bifrost and the effects of the Convergence, but she needed more data if she really wanted to take things further. 

Then, a portal suddenly appeared right there in the room! A practical application of a generated portal, right in front of her! She reined herself in enough to prod at it to check she wasn’t going to get vaporised or something, and then dove right in. On the other side was a man wearing robes and a cloak that was twitching even though there was no sign of a breeze or draught. Clearly the person who created the portal. Clutching her notebook, she interrogated him on how he’d done it. There didn’t seem to be any kind of apparatus around the portal, which hung in mid-air, so it didn’t require any kind of frame or surface. There was an unusual ring on his right hand which immediately struck her as neither mystical-looking nor practical, and therefore stood out as an aberration that she seized upon, asking whether the ring opened the portal, and how did it work. Judging by his expression, she’d guessed right. 

At that moment, Loki stepped forward and pulled her away, glaring at the man. It looked like Thor wasn’t kidding about Loki threatening him, as he stepped back hastily and the next thing Jane knew, a flash of light washed over them and they were standing outside under a wide blue sky, the air salty and filled with the sounds of seabirds. 

She was so enraptured with the change of scenery that it took her a few seconds to notice that someone else was there. A man stood at the edge of the cliff, and though he lacked the fancy robes, she recognised Odin. 

“Stay here,” said Thor, walking toward his father. Loki followed him, a slight reluctance in his step. 

Part of her resented him giving her orders like that, even though she could see that they needed to talk in private, and she had no desire to talk to Odin again. 

Realising she still held her notebook, she put it away. Holding it while watching a private family moment made her feel like one of the nosey reporters who’d hounded her about her relationship with Thor, even though reporters didn’t carry paper notebooks anymore. 

The three of them stood talking for a few minutes, though she couldn’t hear what about from where she was, before sitting down. Suddenly, Odin just… dissolved into light. Thor and Loki remained, but thunder rumbled in the distance. Thor advanced upon Loki, looking angry. Jane wondered if she should go over and break it up, and then wondered if she should be wondering that – should she really be feeling sympathy for Loki? 

Before she could make up her mind, a rip appeared in the air nearby, and a woman stepped out. She had long black hair streaked with grey, and was wearing some kind of fitted black and green catsuit, and even though she was smiling, she had murder in her eyes. Jane had no idea who she was, but she instantly knew the woman was bad news. 

Thor and Loki had apparently come to the same conclusion, their armour appearing on them as they stepped forward to meet her. Jane wanted to run over and hide behind them, but she was frozen to the spot. 

“Oh, so he’s gone? That’s a shame. I would’ve liked to have seen that.” She didn’t sound sorry at all. 

“You must be Hela. I’m Thor, son of Odin.” 

Hela smirked. “Really, you don’t look like him.” 

“Perhaps we can reach an arrangement.” 

“You sound like him.” Loki looked offended at that. 

She fixes them with a hard stare. “Kneel.” 

Now Loki really looks offended. “I beg your pardon?” 

A long, elaborate blade just appears in Hela’s hand, and she brandishes it at them. “Kneel before your Queen.” 

“I don’t think so.” Thor throws his hammer, and it streaks towards her. Relief rises in Jane’s chest; she might be able to make swords appear from her hands, but there was nothing she could do to block that hammer and she wasn’t even trying to get out of the way. 

Then she reaches out and just… catches the hammer. Just puts her hand out and stops it, like it was nothing. It didn’t even seem to hurt her palm. 

Thor was as shocked as she was. “It’s not possible.” 

“Darling, you have no idea what’s possible.” Then she squeezed, and squeezed, and the hammer cracked… and shattered… and exploded. 

The last thing Jane remembered was a flash of light, a wave of something hitting her, pain, being flung through the air, and then nothing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thor struggled against the restraints, desperate to be out of them so he could find a way to get back to Asgard. Hela must be tearing the place up while he was manoeuvred around in a chair like some sort of invalid and mocked by the second odd man in colourful robes in less than a day. 

Then, suddenly he noticed a familiar face out of the corner of his eye. Was that… Jane? It couldn’t be… But it was! She was wearing a different outfit to her usual plain garb, swathed in a colourful mix of fabrics like the other occupants of the room, but it was definitely her. And there was Loki! 

“Jane! Loki!” he frantically hissed. 

Jane turned and saw him, dashing over, Loki following more reluctantly. “Where have you been? Is Asgard OK? Did you win?” 

“Why aren’t you in chairs? Where are yours?” 

“They looked at each other. “Um, we don’t have chairs.” 

“Why not?” 

“Why are we whispering?” asked Jane. 

“Why are you whispering?” another vice interjected, and they all turned to see the Grandmaster looking at them quizzically. “Do you three know each other?” 

“I’ve never seen this man before in my life.” And at the same time, “He’s my ex.” 

“He’s my brother. And we never finished discussing how I am now your ex.” 

“Adopted.” Loki attempted, as a defence. 

“Oh, we most definitely finished that discussion! It’s been weeks since we had it!” 

“I still won’t accept this. And what do you mean it’s been weeks! I just got here!” 

“Time moves a little differently on Sakaar. If this were anywhere else, I’d be ancient. And these two are married, so you’ve lost out there. Hope you’re a little better in the Arena, because this doesn’t look good. Really gotta be on your toes there.” 

“WHAT?!” Thor bellowed. 

Loki put his arm around Jane, who shrugged apologetically. “It’s been a weird few weeks. You’ve missed a lot.” 

And with that, Thor’s chair wheeled its way out of the room. Looking over his shoulder, Thor could see Jane giving him a slightly rueful smile before she disappeared from view.


	3. Chapter 3

It _had_ been a weird few weeks. Jane had woken up to Loki leaning over her, looking concerned. The light framed his face, and she was reminded of how good-looking he was. You’re so pretty, she thought, and only when he sighed and said, “You hit your head pretty hard.” did she realise that she’d said it out loud. 

Suddenly very awake, she had jerked upright and looked around. They seemed to be in some sort of huge junkyard. “Where are we? What happened?” 

“I don’t know. I called down the Bifrost, but Hela followed and a fight ensued that resulted in us getting pushed out and we ended up here.” 

“DAMMIT! WHY IS IT I ALWAYS SEEM TO MISS THE PORTALS?” 

It hadn’t occurred to her to ask what had happened to Thor. She’d just assumed he’d be fine. He always seemed to be fine. 

“You’ve seen the Bifrost before.” 

“Yes, but I didn’t see what it was like to go through one of the walls.” She looked up at the sky, as if hoping that she’d still see the Bifrost, and gaped at the portals in the sky above them, the occasional object falling through them. “Wormholes! And they’re stable, and don’t seem to react to each other!” 

She’d pulled a phone out of her pocket and started recording footage of the sky above, narrating a description, wanting to get as much data as she could. She hadn’t noticed the figures approaching until they were right in front of them. She was so excited by being on a different planet, it hadn’t occurred to her to be scared. 

Wait, though! They might have in-depth knowledge of the portals! They must spend a lot of time here, judging by their ragged clothes that had clearly been scavenged from trash. She’d brought her phone down so the microphone could pick up anything they said, and asked, in a breathless voice, “Hi, do you guys live here? What can you tell me about these portals? Are they permanent? Do people use them for travel? Why are there so many? Does it cause any atmospheric disturbances?” 

She had gazed at them, waiting for an answer, and they had looked at each other, confused. Loki had stepped in at the moment, putting his arm around her shoulder, protectively, but whatever he’d been about to ask them was forestalled by one of them stepping forwards and asking something she didn’t understand. All the science fiction with aliens who spoke English had lied to her. 

Whatever it was that he’d said, it hadn’t been good, as Loki had immediately tensed. “We are quite definitely fighters, and I’d advise you not to test your luck.” 

They’d obviously seen that as a challenge, because that was when they’d attacked. Loki had shoved her behind him before pulling knives from who-knew-where and laying into them, and she’d moved back to get out of the way, but several scavengers had moved around Loki and come after her. She’d grabbed the nearest piece of trash – a short, jagged metal pole that looked like it should be too heavy for her to lift, but she’d found to be as light as a feather – and had swung it, knocking them back. 

They’d backed off a little, just out of range, and dodging her swings, and she’d known it was only a matter of time until they got past her, but it’d turned out to be Loki who was taken down first. 

She’d heard a yelp, and turned to see him lying prone on the ground, one of them having got a lucky hit in. He’d immediately staggered back to his feet, but the damage had been done and his assailants had moved in, to take advantage of that moment of weakness. And in her distraction Jane had found the strut being torn from her hands. 

The two of them had backed towards each other, eyeing the gang surrounding them and looking for a way to regain their advantage. Loki had probably had some awesome move up his sleeve and was preparing to unleash some huge smackdown, but she’d had no way of knowing what he was planning, and all she could think was, _‘We are going to die here.’_

And then her fear had transformed into white-hot anger. After studying the universe her whole life, she was actually getting to explore it and that’s all she really wanted and why were these people doing this…? 

And he fury had exploded out of her in a flash of bright white light that had blasted the scavengers away from them. Just like the light that had hit her when Thor hammer had exploded, but this time it was her that was the source. 

Those scavengers that were able had fled, leaving their less fortunate compatriots behind. She and Loki had shared a shocked look with each other, before it had occurred to them that they should probably get out of there before anyone else tried their chances. 

They’d fled into the city, and frustrated at not being able to understand anyone or read any of the signs, she’d asked him how he could, and he’d explained about the Allspeak. When she’d asked for him to give her the gift too, he’d agreed, even though he’d said he’d need to go inside her mind. She was way too uncomfortable at not knowing what was going on to care about why that might potentially be a bad idea. And how could she interview anyone properly without being able to understand their answers? 

He’d put his hand on her forehead and sort of… pushed a spark of magic into her. Or that was the best way she could put it into words. She’d felt something, like something had taken root, and then he’d pulled away, and she hadn’t been able to help the small feeling of disappointment. 

She hadn’t been able to understand anything for a while after that, but Loki had said that it would take time for it to properly seep into her mind and for her brain to process the new information, but that it would gradually help. And he’d been right – she’d started to understand more, a word here and there, and then almost full sentences, and then everything. She was desperately curious to know how it worked, but she had figured that Loki would just roll his eyes and say, “Magic, of course.” 

And he’d be right. But she knew there had to be some sort of scientific principles behind it. Then he’d mentioned offhandedly that they’d need to be finding a way for her to get back to Midgard, which had kicked off an argument when she’d flatly refused to go, pointing out that those portals were something she needed to study. He’d pointed out that this place was clearly not safe for a woman, which she’d thought was a bit rich considering she’d just saved his ass, and she’d said that she was staying, so there, and he could go back to Asgard on his own. And that was when was when she’d found out he had no intention of going back to Asgard. She hadn’t been surprised (he’d probably get arrested the moment his feet touched the ground there), but she’d assumed he’d want to at least check in to find out how the fight against Hela had gone, and if they needed any help. 

After some back and forth, they had both agreed that the two of them would find somewhere to stay and lie low and plan their next steps, he would help her find a way to study the local portals, and as for who would go where after that, and with whom… well they’d cross that bridge when they came to it. No point getting ahead of themselves when they hadn’t even got the faintest idea of where they were. And it’d be the perfect opportunity to question him on how he could generate portals. 

They’d wandered through the streets, exploring and looking for… well, she wasn’t sure what; she was relying on Loki for this. So distracted by all the new and bizarre sights around her, she’d bumped into some tall, tough-looking guy, who had snarled at her and barked something that, even with the Allspeak not working properly yet, she could tell was a threat. Loki had moved in front of her, shifting into a fighting stance, and then suddenly they’d found themselves surrounded by the guy’s friends, all wearing the same uniform. 

She’d been expecting another fight, but then then the first guy had said something else that she didn’t catch, and Loki had relaxed, assuming a contrite expression and simply said, “Very well.” 

She had no idea what was going on, but had figured it was best to take her cues from him, so she’d copied him and hadn’t protested when they were cuffed and marched through the streets. This had not seemed remotely good, and she’d wondered what the hell the guy had said to convince Loki to surrender. 

“What is going on?” she’d hissed to him, not sure if it was OK to speak. “Why are we letting these guys take us prisoner?” 

“They’re taking us to someone called the Grandmaster, who apparently runs this place. I find it’s always best to go straight to the person in charge, and we’re unlikely to get an audience any other way.” 

“And what if the audience goes badly?” 

He shrugged. “We’ll leave. I’ve broken out of worse situations.” 

There’d been no option other than going along with it and hoping he knew what he was doing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Allspeak was still sinking in, so she hadn’t been fully understanding the conversation, but she’d got the gist, and the way the Grandmaster was looking at her had been starting to seriously creep her out. 

“This one’s nice. Teeny tiny thing. Hah! But I think she’s a little fierce underneath. Like an angry kitten! Move me closer.” 

This last part had been directed to the people flanking his chair, who actually physically moved it closer. Yep, this was definitely the weirdest encounter that Jane had had with anyone, and she’d met elves with guns. He’d begun to eyeball her, peering at her like she was some kind of specimen. 

“Yes, I could definitely use someone like this. Personal attendant maybe? Always openings there! Or the Arena? Would be quite a show… Hmm...” 

At that point, Loki had put his arm around her. She was so freaked out by the weird guy peering at her from inches away that she’d burrowed into the side of the one-time attempted conqueror of Earth as the least worst option. 

“Actually, this is my wife.” This had caused the Grandmaster to turn his attention to Loki, which had so relieved Jane it had taken a few seconds for the words to sink in, and even then she’d had to question whether it was a mistake of some kind, a side effect of her brain adapting to the Allspeak. “Yes, we’re newlyweds, you see. Still figuring each other out. This trip is a treat for her, so she can study the portals here.” 

“Ahhh! That’s wonderful! You two absolutely must see all that Sakaar has to offer, together! Yes, I insist you stay as my guests!” 

“I’m not su-” 

“No, I won’t hear a word against it! You must stay! And always good to look into those portals. Never know what’s gonna come through, ha. Yes, you must stay!” 

And that had been that.


	4. Chapter 4

He couldn’t believe that Thor was actually here! On Sakaar! And it seemed that Asgard was lost – or at the very least, on its own. Loki felt a twinge of guilt at not having done anything to defend the place, but forced it away. There likely wasn’t anything he could have done. After all, she’d destroyed Mjolnir like it was a toy, and had had no trouble pushing him out of the Bifrost. If there was some way of stopping her, some weakness that she had which could be exploited, it was as likely someone else would find it as him. 

More likely, actually. Surely there was someone on Asgard who remembered Hela, had knowledge of how she was bound in the first place, who could replicate it without Odin. Any solution Loki could offer would be dismissed, or picked apart for subterfuge, thus wasting valuable time. 

No, he was well away from all of that. 

And he did quite like it here. People appreciated his contributions. Nobody belittled him for his magic – in fact, he was celebrated for it! When people discussed the worlds they’d been to and come from, they listened to his stories and didn’t brush him aside in favour of others. Despite being new to the Grandmaster’s inner circle, his advice on security and efficient running of the place was heeded. 

He listened just as much to the words of others, of course, and learned as much as he could, even about things he wasn’t supposed to know about – like security codes and passwords he should not have access to, because you never know what you might need... 

And he had to admit he enjoyed working with Jane. She was very much in her element here, and her excitement at all the knowledge she was soaking up was palpable. She questioned everybody about every little thing, which you would think people would find irritating, but somehow they indulged her and seemed to find her endearing. 

She had somehow struck up a friendship with Scrapper 142, who was brusque and sarcastic with everyone else, but somehow made an exception for Jane, and the pair of them had spent hours combing the trash heaps for parts that Jane could use to build equipment for studying the portals and charge the electronic devices she had brought with her; the woman even flew Jane close to the portals in her ship so she could study them from close range. 

Loki got the impression Scrapper 142 wasn’t even sure why she was being so uncharacteristically friendly. She was certainly nowhere near as nice to Loki himself. In fact, she seemed to be more abrasive to him than anyone else, and he couldn’t quite figure out why. He suspected she was from somewhere in the Nine Realms, which might explain it – perhaps his reputation preceded him. But in that case, he would have thought such prejudice would extend to his apparent wife. 

He still wasn’t sure what had possessed him to claim her as such. It’s just… he hadn’t liked the way the Grandmaster had been looking at her. At the time he’d put it down to a sense of protectiveness; she’d been pulled into his oafish brother’s orbit, which had changed the course of her life and put her on a path that had led to constant danger, but despite all that she’d been brave enough to forge her own path and forgo Thor’s protection (such as it had been). Yet her fate was still intertwined with that of his not-family, and he had unwittingly brought her here, and so he had a sort of obligation to watch over her. 

For all that she had apparently acquired powers due to being hit by the backlash from Mjolnir’s destruction, it was always good to have backup when going into dangerous areas. 

So of course he would attempt to put a barrier between her and someone who threatened her in some way. And that was simply the most expedient way. It had worked too - the Grandmaster now looked at her with a sort of bemused affection, tolerating the questions she hurled at him (from a safe distance at least – it seemed that she was still wary of him, and Loki couldn’t blame her, since he had hinted he’d be happy with a threesome, though thankfully he had not pushed). 

But as he’d spent more and more time with her, putting his arms around her and bestowing affectionate gestures in order to keep up the charade, and more and more nights lying beside her in the bed they’d been provided with, he’d realised the truth. 

He liked Jane Foster. No, ‘like’ didn’t quite cover it. It was far, far, far beyond that. 

And he was sure she did not feel the same for him. Oh, she smiled sweetly enough, and leaned into his embraces. He’d even woken on some nights to find her curled up against him (he’d had to carefully extricate himself before she woke on some mornings, and rush to the bathing room to take care of the problem that this created). But these were surely just her natural friendliness, and her trust in him as her declared protector. Nothing more. 

And even if she did care, what would happen when she found out the truth? When she found out why, if he tried to use a cold shower in order to remedy the situations he would find himself in of a morning, it couldn’t go cold enough for him – something that had always puzzled him until he’d found out what he really was – she would surely be horrified. Even for someone as apparently fearless as her, there was surely a limit. 

And that was without considering what he had done to her world. She seemed to have accepted at least that he bore no real ill will – he had explained to her about Thanos and his search for Infinity Stones, and how his devastation of one of Midgard’s cities was actually much better than the alternative option – but that wasn’t quite the same as accepting him, now was it? 

This was torment. But he had endured torment before. He would survive, as he always did. Attempting to think of something else, his thoughts turned to his brother, and he sighed. He’d tried to reason with Thor, but it had gotten him nowhere. The oaf was refusing to give up on Asgard, and angry at Loki for so easily giving up on a place where he had never truly belonged no matter how hard he’d tried. He blamed Loki for the Allfather’s death, even though Odin had admitted he had eventually broken Loki’s enchantment and had chosen to remain of his own free will, quietly waiting to die, even though he knew there’d be consequences. Consequences he had failed to give any warning for. 

He should be happy that Odin was as willing to lie to Thor as he was to him. Perhaps that’s why Thor blamed Loki – he didn’t want to confront such a betrayal from the father he’d so trusted and defended, and so it was easier to blame everything on a convenient scapegoat. 

Thor had always been pig-headed, and it had often come close to getting him killed. Now it looked like it actually would. No one had yet defeated the Arena’s reigning Champion. Loki hadn’t encountered him yet. The Grandmaster tried to use him as sparingly as possible, not wanting the crowd to grow jaded. But he had heard plenty. A giant who could flatten an opponent with a single punch, who could smash through thick stone with no injury, with a fearsome roar that could terrify even the bravest of warriors, a seething beast of pure rage. 

However, when he had gone to place his wager, despite what he had told Thor – and against all common sense – he had actually put money on his brother. 

It was just that the odds were so stacked against him, that if he did prevail, the payout would be exorbitant enough to set Loki up for life. That was all. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane usually avoided the Arena, preferring instead to stay in her room and compose her notes into a coherent paper that she could add to her existing research. But she’d been unable to stay away from Thor’s debut fight. It wasn’t as if she could have done anything to help, but staying away felt disloyal. She and Loki had both been surprised to recognise the Champion. Loki had tensed and jumped to his feet, and she’d wanted to run too, but she’d pulled him back down. 

For all that she’d been unable to stay away, she certainly couldn’t watch, and had spent most of the fight hiding her face against Loki’s chest. He’d put his arms around her, which had felt comforting, though she wished he meant it when he acted like this, and not that it was part of a pretence. He’d affected ambivalence to the fight, but she had felt his tension, and his arms twitched around her whenever a blow was struck in the fight. 

At one point, Loki had surged to his feet and punched the air, roaring, “YES! THAT’S HOW IT FEELS!” 

Jane had looked down into the Arena in time to see Thor getting slammed hard into the ground, face first, the Hulk having grabbed him by the ankle and swung him into the dirt. She guessed he must have done the same thing to Loki at some point. 

Everyone in the box had been staring at Loki for his outburst, and he’d played it off by claiming he was just an enthusiastic sports fan, and they’d all settled back down, with Jane going straight back to pretending the whole thing wasn’t happening. 

When the crowd had begun enthusiastically chanting Thor’s name though, she’d dared to look, to find him actually winning! It hadn’t lasted though, as the Grandmaster had leant forward, paralysing Thor with the push of a button, and she’d had to hide again.


	5. Chapter 5

They fled the VIP Box as soon as they could make an exit without looking like they were running. Back in their room, she sank down on the bed, feeling so drained it was as if she’d been fighting in the Arena herself. She hoped Thor would be OK. He hadn’t moved as he was carried away, but she’d been reassured on overhearing people speculating about the possibility of future matches between him and some of the higher ranked fighters, so at least he was alive, and expected to pull through. 

Loki slumped beside her, similarly weary, not looking at her. It worried her a little. He was always quiet, but this was different, with a greater air of tension and she got the sense somehow that his mind was very far away. He was worried, she realised. 

She wasn’t very good at comforting people, but she could try. Moving closer, she reached out, rubbing his back gently, feeling a little awkward. He looked hesitant for a moment, and she wandered if he was going to snap at her to leave him alone – he must be sick of her by now, being stuck with her like this – but then leaned into her touch, relaxing against her and closing his eyes. 

She tried to think of what to say. Asking if he was okay seemed stupidly obvious and likely to elicit an eye roll or a flat denial. But telling him that she could see he wasn’t okay seemed intrusive and blunt. 

He saved her the trouble by speaking first, turning slightly to look at her, though not making any move to shift her hand. “Staying here isn’t an option any longer. It’s time to go. As soon as possible.” 

He sounded calm, but she could feel the strain right below the surface, and… was that fear in his eyes? 

“What is it? What’s wrong? I thought you liked it here?” 

He pushed a hand through his hair. “I do! I did! But…” he swallowed. “I just have a bad feeling.” 

She was the one to roll her eyes. He could be really bad at answering a question if he didn’t want to, and normally she didn’t mind, but she wasn’t in the mood for evasiveness right now. “Loki.” 

He sighed. “It’s that.. thing. That green beast.” “The Hulk?” 

“We’ve had an altercation in the past.” Her hand had paused on his back, and she wasn’t sure what to do with it. She didn’t want to put her arm down, but she wasn’t sure how long was too long to rub someone’s back. 

“I gathered that.” 

“And it doesn’t strike me as the most forgiving of creatures. I would rather not be on any planet it’s on. The fact that it’s confined to the Arena is scant comfort, since the Grandmaster is moved by whims, and I’m quite certain it could smash itself out if it really wanted to.” 

She wanted to tell him he was being ridiculous, but he seemed genuinely scared. She’d never seen him so much as nervous before, even when facing Hela. And she remembered the news footage, from the Hulk’s rampage in Johannesburg a few years ago, and bit her lip. She couldn’t blame him for wanting to get away. 

She wished he wouldn’t go though. She liked spending time with him. He helped keep her safe. Taught her things. Actually listened when she talked and acknowledged her expertise. And she liked being curled up in bed with him. She’d be left completely alone on an alien planet. Sure, there was Scrapper 142, but she was often busy, and it wasn’t the same; they didn’t have the same connection as she and Loki did. She wanted to ask if she could go with him, but he wouldn’t want some mortal tagging along. Assuming she was still mortal. 

“It’ll be lonely here without you, but OK.” 

He stared at her in shock. “You’re staying?!” 

He seemed upset, and she wondered if she’d insulted him somehow. “You want me to come too?” 

He turned to her abruptly and his hands shot out, gripping her arms in a deathgrip, pinning them to her sides. “Of course I do! I’m not leaving you anywhere near that beast. If you get hurt-” he broke off suddenly and looked away, letting go of her. 

“If I get hurt, what? Wait, are you actually concerned about me?” He didn’t look at her. “Loki…” 

He took several deep breaths and turned to face her again. For a moment all the pretence was gone and he wore his fear openly on his face, then he schooled his face into his usual calm expression. But she now knew it for the mask it was. 

He opened his mouth and took a breath, about to launch into some bullshit about how he was above such petty emotion, and she was not interested in hearing it. So she did the first thing that came into her head: She grabbed his shirt, pulled him down, and kissed him. 

He immediately froze, and for a moment she thought she might have been mistaken, and he was going to push her off him, but then he brought his arms up around her and responded to the kiss in earnest. Eventually they broke apart, both breathless, and stared at each other. 

“Well,” he said. “That was…” He couldn’t seem to find words to finish that sentence. 

“Yeah.” Okay, so she wasn’t winning any awards for eloquence here either. 

He gave her a puzzled frown. “You never said anything.” 

“Neither did you.” 

“I simply presumed that you would have no interest in me after all that I have done, and the best that I could hope for was tolerance, which is what I assumed I was receiving.” 

“Well, I thought you were just putting up with me because you were temporarily stuck with me.” 

There was a pause, and she could feel the tension from before starting to creep back. “Can we agree we’re both stupid?” 

“It must be from spending too much time around Thor. His idiocy is clearly contagious.” 

“Speaking of him, is he coming too?” 

He groaned. “Do we have to talk about him?” 

“Hey, you’re the one who brought him up.” 

Sighing, he rubbed a hand over his face. “I already went to speak to him before the fight. I’d hoped to persuade him to wait a while, bide his time taking on lesser fighters, while I endeavour to find some way to either get rid of the Grandmaster or at least redirect his focus somehow. But such a thing would require both patience and restraint on his part, and my brother possesses neither of those qualities. He was determined to challenge the Champion and win his freedom immediately, so he can return to Asgard for a futile battle that is almost certainly lost already.” 

“But he tried that and look how it worked out! He must have changed his mind by now. Can’t you try again?” 

“I think you underestimate my brother’s stubbornness, Jane. This will not have dissuaded him, trust me. If anything, it will have made him all the more determined. You ask me to ‘try again’, but I have. Many, many, oh so many times over the years. And not once have I even been successful enough to so much as slightly alter his intent. I will not waste my breath. Languishing in the cells of the Grandmaster’s palace is a fate so obviously beneath him, but he is set on his course. And endlessly fighting constant challenges from other warriors is more or less his ideal state.” 

She wasn’t so sure – it didn’t seem right to leave him – but he knew Thor, and that description of him rang pretty true. 

“OK, so… what do we do? Have you got a plan?” 

v“Not as such,” he said, shaking his head. “But I’ve gathered various pieces of useful information while we’ve been here. Passcodes, shift patterns, patrol movements, building layouts, and the like. But it’ll still take some work to weave those things into a way to get us out of a building filled with people without anyone noticing. And then there’s getting off Sakaar. They’re happy for people to drop out of the portals, but I assume you’ve seen what happens to people trying to go the other way.” 

She had. Any ship even going near one of the portals without authorisation was shot down. She’d seen it happen several times while watching portals. She was one of the few allowed to get close, the Grandmaster having meant what he’d said about allowing her study to go ahead, giving Scrapper 142 permission to fly her close. 

“You have good reason to approach them, which is something in our favour, but if the patrol ships see you getting too close they’ll still shoot you down. And I’ve noticed that permission is conveniently denied on any days my schedule allows me to accompany you.” 

She hadn’t noticed, but now that he pointed it out, he was right. Any time the two of them planned to gather data together, so that he could more easily explain Asgardian theories on wormholes, she was always told that Scrapper 142 had business to attend to and would not be available to fly her that day, and they would have to settle for working on the ground. 

“Which one do we go through, once we have a plan and an escape opportunity?” 

“That, my dear, is for you to decide. Pick whichever one is the most stable and least likely to rip whatever ship we are in to shreds.” 

She opened her mouth to respond, not even sure what she was going to say, and a yawn slipped out, and she suddenly realised just how damn tired she was. 

He grinned at her, mischievously. “Ah, bed time, I think.” 

She shivered in anticipation. They’d shared a bed before, but this would be different. 

He noticed, obviously. “Nervous, my dear?” 

“Maybe. Tomorrow is one thing, but now I’m wondering what you’ve got planned for tonight.” 

That earned her a smirk. “Well, we are married. Surely that entitles me to take some liberties?” 

“We’ll see about that.”


	6. Chapter 6

She ran into Scrapper 142 in the main common area while they were both getting breakfast (in Jane’s case, some weird alien fruit; in 142’s case, some weird alien alcohol), and they chatted about their plans for the day. The other woman would be spending the morning training, before loading up with alcohol and heading out to scour the scrapheaps, while Jane would be going over her notes, maybe taking a trip outside later with Loki, to gain fresh data. 

Of course, their real plans for the day involved planning and preparing for their escape, but she didn’t dare say anything. She’d come to see this woman as a friend, but her job did involve what was basically trafficking – however much it was better than the alternative of being eaten by cannibals in a junkyard – and she had to be ruthless to maintain her position, so there was always a chance she’d sell them out to the Grandmaster. 

They parted ways and Jane went back to her room. True to her word, she did spend the morning going over her notes, looking for suitable escape routes, as well as trying to put the data together in a coherent enough package that she could hopefully see if there were any gaps, because she wouldn’t have any further opportunities to study these particular portals from this particular perspective, so if there was anything she needed to check, she had a limited time to do it in. 

She knew that Loki was doing his own form of data analysis – going over passcodes, checking building layouts and guard rotas, and establishing which ships were available that he had access to. 

She lost track of time as she buried herself in data. Vaguely she heard a commotion in the corridor and could have sworn that she could the voice of the Grandmaster from somewhere outside, and almost got up to investigate, but then her eyes caught in a particularly interesting piece of data that didn’t quite fit with the rest, and she was pulled back in again, determined to understand if she’d missed something in her calculations or if there was a reason for the inconsistency. 

Hunger roused her from her concentration. Checking the time, she winced. She’d been sitting here for hours and it was now lunchtime. Getting up, she headed for the door, but halfway across the room she rethought herself, frowning. She hadn’t heard from Loki yet, even though he should have been by before now. Which meant that either they weren’t going today, or they were going today and he was so busy preparing things he hadn’t had the chance to tell her. Either way, it was probably a good idea to take all her stuff with her. Either they’d need to bail in a hurry and she wouldn’t have time to come back to get anything, or they weren’t leaving today so she had another afternoon to gather as much data as possible. 

Grabbing her bag, she shoved her phone, her notebook, the Sakaaran tablet that held her digital notes, and various bits of measuring equipment in her bag. Somehow it all fit easily – she suspected Loki had magicked it. 

As if she’d summoned him, the door swished open and he burst through. “We have to go. Now!” 

Hurrying after him, she found Thor waiting outside. “Thor! You’re OK.” 

He grinned and shrugged as if to say, _Hey, I’m always OK_. Then the three of them are running. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, listen, we should talk.” 

Loki was busy tapping out a code on a door panel, and avoided looking at his brother. “I disagree. Open communication was never our family’s forte.” 

“You have no idea. I’ve had quite the revelation since we spoke last.” 

The door opened to show a group of guards, but they went down pretty easily thanks to the large guns the brothers were carrying, and the trio stepped over them and made their way to another door. 

“Odin brought us together, it’s almost poetic that his death should split us apart. We might as well be strangers now.” 

Jane was pretty sure Loki didn’t mean that, but it probably wasn’t a good idea to get in the middle of this. It felt awkward enough as it was just being present for it. Wanting to get away, she opened the elevator door, only to be faced with another guard. She punched him without thinking and walked in. 

Thor smirks at Loki as he heads into an elevator. “Thought you didn’t want to talk about it?” 

Jane resisted the urge to grin. He’s not wrong. 

Loki pauses, at least, but he can’t stay silent for long. “Here’s the thing. I’m probably better off going somewhere else.” 

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” 

Loki blinked. “...Did you just agree with me?” 

“But of course. Wandering through space, going where you want. A savage, chaotic, lawless life. Brother, that would suit you perfectly.” 

“Do you truly think so little of me?” Loki is frowning now, and Jane wants to punch both of them. 

“Loki, I thought the world of you. I thought we were going to fight side by side forever. But, at the end of the day, you’re you, I’m me… I don’t know, maybe there’s still good in you, but let’s be honest, our paths diverged a long time ago.” 

Yep, she definitely wants to punch both of them. 

Loki nods, looking almost bored. “It’s probably for the best that we never see one another again.” 

Thor pats him on the shoulder, so at least they’ve found some common ground. That’s something. 

“That’s what you always wanted.” He pauses for a moment and grins. “Hey, let’s do ‘Get Help.’” 

“What?” Jane isn’t sure what ‘Get Help’ is, but Loki doesn’t sound pleased at the idea. 

“’Get Help’.” 

“No.” 

“Come on, you love it.” 

“I hate it.” 

“It’s great. It works every time.” 

“It’s humiliating.” 

Sick of not following the argument, Jane decides this is the moment to butt in. “Uh, what is ‘Get Help’?” 

“Oh, I walk in carrying Loki, calling for people to get help because my poor dear brother is dying, and when they step forward to investigate I throw him at them.” He beams at her proudly. 

"I don’t understand. Loki can cast illusions. Why not have him pretend to be the Grandmaster and tell the guards to go somewhere else?” Thor seems to deflate. 

“An excellent idea.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The guards waiting in the hangar didn’t seem too surprised to see the Grandmaster walk in flanked by Topaz and Scrapper 142, and filed obediently into the elevator when they were informed they were desperately needed at the Arena. Probably guards who served saner employers would have had questions about leaving the place unguarded, but the Grandmaster was both capricious and brutal, so leaving a place unguarded was not the craziest order they’d been given that week, and insubordination would result in melting. 

As soon as the doors closed behind them Loki dropped the illusion. Thor muttered, “I still think we should have done ‘Get Help’.” 

Loki’s only response was to roll his eyes. 

“Which ship are we taking?” 

Loki stalked away. “There’s no ‘we’ here. I thought we’d been over this. Jane and I are going elsewhere.” 

Jane wasn’t so sure. She hadn’t wanted to go to Asgard, but that was when she’d assumed the battle was over or Hela had been defeated before reaching Asgard. If things really were desperate and they needed everyone they could get, then surely Loki should help. She moved toward him, meaning to intervene. 

“But what about Asgard? Does the Realm mean nothing to you?” Thor snarled angrily. 

“No. Why should it?” 

“Never one for sentiment, were you?” 

“Easier to let it burn.” 

Jane is just wandering which of them she should punch first, or if it’d be better to persuade them to stand closer so she can knock their heads together, when Thor holds up a small device. It doesn’t look like a weapon, but Loki looks fearful. 

Thor smirks. “I agree.” 

He presses a button and Loki freezes rigid, before falling to the ground writhing in pain. Jane is frozen to the spot. She knows she has to intervene, but in this moment she is suddenly very scared of Thor, who is walking over to his fallen brother. 

“Sorry, brother, but after everything we’ve been through, the endless cycle of me trusting you, and you betraying me, I can’t assume that this desire to simply walk away doesn’t cover a plan to walk away by using me as a patsy. Don’t think I didn’t notice that that console you were standing by has an alarm button on it. So consider this a preventative measure.” He leaned down, looking more serious than Jane had even seen him, even more than after his mother’s death. “No hard feelings, brother, but I have to put the safety of Asgard above all else, and I can’t allow anyone, even you, to get in the way of that.” 

He gets up and throws the device across the room, then grabs Jane. “Come on.” 

She’s so shocked that at first she doesn’t resist being dragged towards the sleek red ship nearby. “What are you doing?” 

“We have to get out of here!” 

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” She plants her feet on the ground and refuses to budge, bringing him to a halt, he’s brought up short and can’t move her. She pulls her arm free and stands, glaring at him. He has the nerve to look surprised, apparently thinking he could pull her around and that was fine. 

“But Jane-” 

“Go! I’m not coming with you.” 

He takes a step toward her, and she’s so angry she can’t think. She can feel something within her, just like she had in the junkyard on that first day here, but this time she knows what it is, and she focuses and directs it at him, and suddenly he’s flying across the room in a flash of lightning, like the scavengers had. 

He lies stunned for a moment before pushing himself upright and looking at her, shocked (literally, a part of her brain supplies). 

She stares him down, hoping he won’t retaliate, because she’s not sure she can actually take him in a fight. “Go. Now.” 

He stumbles to his feet and goes to the ship, and the moment he’s got the door open and is diving in, and she’s sure he’s not going to try grabbing her again, she runs back over to Loki. He’s twitching and grimacing in agony. She wants to reach out to him, but she vaguely recalls reading advice somewhere about it being a bad idea to touch someone getting an electric shock, and she’s got no idea if this is what is happening, or if that information is even correct, and it’s not like it would actually help that much. 

“I’ll go find the device,” she shouts at him, hoping he can hear her against the pain and the sound of the ship’s engine starting up, and runs off in the direction Thor had thrown it in, as the hangar doors open and alarms start blaring ( _so much for Thor accusing Loki of being about to trigger them…_ she thinks). 

It probably takes less than a minute to find it, but it feels like it takes hours. She presses the button, hoping it’s an on/off thing, and not something where pushing the button cycles through different settings until it comes around again. Thankfully there’s a relieved gasp from Loki’s direction, and she runs over, gathering him in her arms and holding him close. 

“Are you OK?” 

“Fine. It was worse than it looked.” 

She rolls her eyes at his obviously false bravado, but helps him to his feet when he makes a move to get up. He should probably rest first, but with those alarms they probably don’t have time to sit around. 

Suddenly, a crowd of aliens runs in, brandishing weapons. She almost panics for a moment, but then recognises a few of them from the Arena and relaxes. They weren’t with the Grandmaster. One of them, who seems to be made of rocks, points at a large, battered-looking ship across the hangar. “There she is. Our ticket out of here.” Then he turns and spots Jane and Loki. “Oh hey, who are you?” 

Jane smiles. “Uh, hi! I’m Jane, and this is Loki!” 

“I’m Korg, and this guy here is Miek.” He waves at a large insect next to him, which seems to have knives for hands. “We’re about to jump on that ginormous spaceship. You wanna come?” 

Loki steps forward, still a little shaky. “Well, you do seem like you’re in desperate need of leadership.” 

“Why, thank you.” 

As they followed the aliens onto the ship, she turned to Loki. “Any place in particular you want to go?” 

He opened his mouth, closed it, then sighed. “Asgard.” 

She blinked in surprise. “Really? I mean, not that I don’t agree, because any Asgardian drama always seems to end up affecting Earth somehow. But I didn’t expect you to choose to go back after all that ‘I’m probably better off going somewhere else’ and ’Asgard means nothing to me’.” 

He grimaces. “I resent that Thor sees me as so predictable that he automatically assumes I’m going to betray him simply because I refused to help him. I mean, really? And I refuse to let him get the last word.” 

“I guess that’s what heroes do.” She linked her arm through his. “C’mon. Let’s see if our new friends are interested in another revolution.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, sorry for the abrupt ending there. I fully intended to include the final battle, but time constraints nixed that plan.
> 
> To anyone waiting on updates to my other fics: I swear I'm working on it.
> 
>  
> 
> I am on Tumblr [here](http://sinistercinnamon.tumblr.com/), though fair warning it's like 20% Lokane/Marvel & 80% Reylo/Star Wars right now.


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